COLLEGE SIGNING: Spring-Ford triple-threat Sheldon joining Bucknell football program

Spring-Ford senior R.J. Sheldon recently signed a letter of intent to play football at Bucknell University on a football scholarship. Sheldon is pictured with his parents Rich, left, and Sue, right, and sister Alyssa. (Kevin Hoffman/The Mercury)

ROYERSFORD – R.J. Sheldon has been very flexible and quite agreeable throughout his athletic career at Spring-Ford.

Give him a position to play in baseball and football, or an event to compete in swimming, and Sheldon was there … without any opposition, without the least bit of hesitation.

And while Sheldon has enjoyed his share of success in all three sports, as well as in the classroom – where he’s a member of the National Honor Society – he’ll soon be narrowing his grueling year-round schedule to include just one sport and, of course, academics.

Sheldon made that choice recently, albeit a surprising one to many who have played with or followed him the past three-plus years, after signing a national letter of intent to line up in Bucknell University’s football program.

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The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Sheldon has been one of the centerpieces of the Spring-Ford and Spring City American Legion baseball programs as an infielder and pitcher the past three years. He helped the Rams to a district title and second-place finish in the state tournament, then spent his summers helping the Red Sox to league and state regional titles as well as national regional appearances. And when it got cold outside, Sheldon was inside, in the pool setting school swimming records in several events and becoming a multi-event district qualifier.

But when push came to shove, and there sure was a lot of it in his three-year football career, he opted for the helmet and pads over the ball and bat (and the swimming shorts and cap).

“I really liked both (baseball and football),” Sheldon explained. “But football was always in the back of my mind. I didn’t block it out.

“I applied to a lot of schools, but I only applied to one school because of football. That was Bucknell. (Their coaches) came in here during my junior year and talked to me. They kept in contact.”

The communication and interest was enough for Sheldon to give a verbal commitment last month, and he was tagged as a “preferred walk-on.” A few weeks later, Bucknell – which competes in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Patriot League – announced it would be offering scholarships for the first time, and new head coach Joe Susan notified Sheldon he would be receiving a substantial scholarship.

“I want to go there for academics, and I want to go there to play football, too,” explained Sheldon, who carries a reported 3.8 grade-point average and plans to study engineering at Bucknell. “I think that’s pretty cool. And the (scholarship money), well, that’s kind of a bonus.”

“I think all of this says a lot about what Bucknell’s people think of him,” Spring-Ford head coach Chad Brubaker said of Sheldon, who drew additional interest from many Division III schools. “R.J. gave them a verbal, then they come back with a scholarship.

“I think (Bucknell) sees a huge upside to R.J. He’s a three-sport athlete, and he has a lot of room on that frame of his to fill out. Now his focus will be on football, on the weight room … and he won’t be burning off all those swimming calories.”

Sheldon, the son of Rich and Sue Sheldon, was recruited as a defensive end, a position he manned rather well the past two seasons in helping the Rams to a Pioneer Athletic Conference championship and unprecedented back-to-back District 1-Class AAAA playoff appearances – including last year’s run that didn’t end until the district final against Coatesville. He was credited with 41 tackles – including a team and Pioneer Athletic Conference high seven sacks. He also had 11 quarterback-hurries, and forced three fumbles and recovered three. All that in addition to catching 23 passes for 359 yards and three touchdowns, and punting well enough to earn all-league and Mercury All-Area honors for the third consecutive year.

By the time he stepped into the pool this winter, Sheldon was a PAC-10 first-team selection, two-way Mercury All-Area selection, and recipient of third-team all-state honors.

“Bucknell recruited him as a defensive end, but I think he can play on either side of the ball,” Brubaker said. “He has good hands, but he also has that fire. His biggest challenge (of playing at Bucknell) will be maintaining that intensity, that every-play intensity.”

Sheldon doesn’t anticipate a problem with that.

“But I know I have to get a lot bigger,” he explained. “I was around 190-195 (pounds) during swimming, and I’m up to around 200 now. I’d like to get to 220 or 225. It’ll take a little while, but I’ll get there.”

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Sheldon is the second area player to sign with Bucknell, joining Pottsgrove standout Tory Hudgins. … Former Daniel Boone standout and 2011 Mercury Player of the Year Tommy Bodolus, who committed to Bucknell following his senior season but instead spent the past year as a post-grad at Cheshire Academy in Conn., will be joining Sheldon and Hudgins in the Bison program this fall. The 6-foot, 195-pound Bodolus – son of former St. Pius X and Daniel Boone head coach Dave Bodolus – is projected as a safety. … The Bison will also feature returning starter Lee Marvel, a junior linebacker from The Hill School who was third on the team in tackles last season.